toontrap

Hi everybody. Did you check out the free Logic Remote for iPad? I've found some great stuff in LPX, some new things to learn (that are really annoying when you're running against a deadline) but nothing has had as much impact on my workflow as the iPad app. You can custom make 'hardware' buttons for frequently used functions. Like toggle hide/show movie (huge timesaver/convenience-enhancer if you view video's you score for at the same screen you work in). And the buttons just tell you what they do, so no more guessing or looking it up. Replace the preset buttons by tap-holding them with two fingers. Everything you do regularly that involves looking for a submenu in a submenu can now be reduced to pushing a clearly labeled button. That saves hours on a project, rather than minutes. And for people that never checked out logic's key commands: that's like buying a guitar and never tuning it. Lot's of functions are only in the key-commands and not accessible through any menu. Like 'play from left side of the screen' or my favorite: 'capture last take as recording'. As you're jamming on a loop (with a controller keyboard, not audio), and you're like, yeah, that went right. I wished I had recorded that one. You just hit the button on the iPad and it's there! I actually record everything that way, as I rarely get it right the first take. Memorizing al teose key commands is a pain, and I always keep forgetting them. Having them at the desk as colorful labeled buttons finally unleashes their true power. So to me the Logic Remote is the biggest improvement in LPX. I place the iPad on the midi keyboard and don't have to turn to the computer anymore while recording. I take it to the couch and hit play if I want to listen to a mix from a distance. If you don't have an iPad, getting one might be the most rewarding investment to improve your workflow. I have hardly touched our Mackie control since I have the app.

To answer the original question. If you like all the drum tracks to sum through a bus with compression, and then 'unbus' them without losing the 'glue' effect, you could record or bounce the summed track to a new track and use that track as sidechain to trigger individual compression on each snare, tom, cymbal, etc. Then the compression should act how it would on the summed tracks, and does so on every individual track. The glueing effect would be lost if you don't trigger the compressor with the summed mix, as Peter Project pointed out. I never tried it and don't know if pre-compressed summing gives the same outcome as post-compressed summing, but I guess it's as close as you can get when 'unbussed' glueing compression is what you're really after. I would rather add the glue after al else is done, because everything you would do with the unbussed tracks would make your mix sound different than the side chain, so the compression would become inaccurate anyway.